Did you ever have an experience that crystalized in your memory? I wrote this poem to capture an experience I had when I was thirteen on a vacation with my family.
Lost, 1982
By Carin L. Reeve
Too old for the kids’ table
Too young for the cool kids,
The high schoolers,
The ones who can drive and drink beer
And make out.
Relegated to the outside of both groups
A girl without a country
Willing to be anything you want just to feel included
To feel special.
We all climbed the mountain,
Ants marching,
To see the lake lying below.
The grown-ups stood atop the mountain
Believing they were close to God
And gave thanks for life and love and family
And this moment of solitude on the mountaintop.
While they prayed in Thanksgiving
We ran back down the mountainside
As kids do
Excited to be free of reminders to slow down or
Watch out for that branch.
We ran
Right past where the trail turned
And didn’t stop until we realized
We were lost.
Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine
Seven and six
Our ages
We knew enough to just
Keep going
Because we would find the trail.
It must be up ahead.
Too young for the high school kids
But old enough to be
In charge
Of a group of misfits
Looking for a path
Or a road
Or a grown-up
As we wander for hours in the woods, off the trail
With no water
No map
No idea where we were.
So we continued through the woods
And came upon a swamp.
The trail must be just on the other side.
We decided
(Or did I decide?
I was the oldest afterall and by all rights in charge)
We had to swim across
The swamp.
What was that?
Was that a water snake?
We’re going to die.
Oh, God, please save us.
If you save us, I promise, I will be good.
I miss my mom.
Hold my hand. We can do this.
We reached the other side and found
A road.
We ran screaming and waving our arms
And found a grown-up.
Grown-ups are safe, we said.
We told our story
The beauty of the lake
Being so close to God
And we ran
But we missed the trail
we knew we could find our parents
If we just kept going.
Four hours later.
Helicopters and rangers.
And we climbed out of the swamp
Saved by God
And a group of kids who can’t sit with the high schoolers.
